Digging Out..

I have been in one of those 'feel like I am busier than I probably am' states this week. I am actually pretty surprised and happy that it is Friday already! So one major accomplishment of the past two weeks deals with our finances. After paying bills we had a pretty limited amount of money to work with (okay, $137.50 to be exact) for groceries and gas and anything else that may have come up. The goal was simple.. stay within the limits and work with what we have. I am very happy that we managed and only yesterday went under by just a few dollars (there is also a small amount in the savings account, but I was hoping to leave that completely intact). The only downer is that our freezer is now completely bare. After I make baked chicken tonight we will have 1 pound of ground beef, a bag of peas, and Lilly's chicken nuggets left. Now that is cutting it close. Even with payday today we will be pinched for the next couple of weeks because more bills are due. It never ends. I don't want to be rich, I just want to be able to afford groceries without having panic attacks in the store. 

One thing we are going to try to better our situation is to look into refinancing the house. We got a decent rate when we bought it almost 5 years ago, but now they are half that even. We have paid off enough and the values went up so we should be able to save around $300 a month if approved for refinancing. The big thing would be whether or not we had to pay the closing costs again. BUT if we can save $300 a month, my goodness we would be in such a different position than we are now. We'd still be strapped for cash and by no means living the lap of luxury, but it would make a big difference and we can finally start digging out. Cross your fingers for us that we can refinance!

In other financial news I got our taxes done! Yay! I think this is the earliest I have ever been able to file them. Everything came in early and it just worked out to get them done. I am way pumped about this. That will also help. I can get rid of some piddly bills like Edison's OT hospital bill and one of Paco's student loans that is just $400 now. Doesn't seem like much, but it all adds up. I will look forward to April too because I wont be going to the gym starting then through the summer which will get rid of that monthly expense (that we've only had for one month so far and I am very appreciative for). Hopefully 2012 is our year. Of course right when we get in a good spot apparently the world will end, but you know... just in case it doesn't we'll be good. 

In an effort to really save money I have decided to do a lot more homemade things in the kitchen. Now, if anyone knows me they already know that I despise boxed and prepared foods. They are worthless in my opinion. Sodium latent tasteless piles of mush. I have always cooked from scratch and you will only find a box of hamburger helper in this house when Paco decides he must have some or I wont be able to cook for some reason. Some things I am going to start making more from scratch are breads, tortillas, and maybe even some of the 'cream' soups. I love baking and it is much more economical if you can get a good price on flour. I may even dig out my moms bread maker and use that to make it less hands on if I don't have the time to knead and rest, knead and rest. Tortillas are EASY and cheap if you just have a big enough pan or griddle.

I'll post pictures of a "healthy" recipe and my opinion of it later today. I was being experimental with a recipe I found on pinterest and cant decide where I stand on it yet.